Mrs Vera Edwards Quick Tomato Sauce

As the cornbread got a much better response from James than it did from me, I thought I'd post the sauce. When I toasted a slice and put it with the shrimp that I cooked in browned butter, salt, pepper and lemon juice and a simple tomato sauce, it really came together. Butter kind of makes everything come to together in my world.

If you don't like or are allergic to prawns, you could make this with chicken, it would work just as well. I would roast a well seasoned breast of chicken and then shred it.




I found this recipe in a Soul Food Cookbook by Joyce White, the book was published in 1998. It is a collection of recipes from African American churches around the country. In it, she gives all the history behind the dish, who it came from, where they worshipped and what they did at their church. This one is from a Mrs Vera Edwards. A member of the Newman Memorial United Methodist Church in Brooklyn since the 1930's when her parents trying to escape the effects of the Depression left Baltimore and moved to New York. She learned to play piano there and later opened her own studio in Crown Heights Brooklyn where she taught for fifteen years.

I thought it might be a little too salty with the soy sauce and the salt, but it wasn't for my palette. However, if you are not a salt lover, omit the salt and use soy and you can season to taste. I did add a little sugar though and a little lemon juice. This tasted good when made and great a few hours later.

Mrs Vera Edwards Quick Tomato Sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
5-6 basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
a couple of good grinds of black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 cups fresh tomato diced (skin, seeds and all)

(Sugar and lemon juice to taste - optional)
Chop the basil, onion and mince the garlic.
Heat the oil in a medium saucepan. Stir into the pan the herb, onion and garlic. Saute over medium-low heat for about five minutes or until the onions are soft and translucent.

Add the salt, black pepper, cayenne, soy sauce and tomatoes. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.


(Apologies for those of you, who just had to get up and turn a light on, it's not you, it's me - but with a flash, it just made it all look greasy.)

Serve it over the top of your shrimp with toasted cornbread and extra fresh basil. I also ran out of creme fraiche, so I used natural yoghurt with a squeeze of lemon juice, a little salt and black pepper and that worked just fine as well.